Midfielder Andros Townsend notched his first goal of the season, and Roberto Soldado recorded his third and an assist as Tottenham defeated Aston Villa 2-0 on Sunday at Villa Park.

Notching their fifth victory of the season, Tottenham moved up to fourth on the table, bumping Manchester City from the perch. Villa remains in ninth with 11 points on the year after suffering their fourth loss.

A highly physical contest resulted in a combined seven yellow cards, including three issued in the final two minutes of the second half.

Spurs controlled the pace of the match, maintaining a 63-37 advantage, and tested Villa keeper Brad Guzan with six on target shots. The American was able to bat away four of them, while Hugo Lloris earned his fifth clean sheet of the year for Tottenham.

Off an assist from Soldado, Townsend gave Spurs the early lead in the 31st minute by looping a deep ball that was supposed to be a cross over the confused Villa backline to the bottom left corner of the net.

Paulinho assisted Soldado on his goal in the 69th with a clever single touch that led to a point blank right-footed strike to the top left corner of the net. It was Paulinho’s second assist of the year.

Substitutes Aleksander Tonev and Christian Benteke registered the Lions' only two shots on target, while Andreas Weimann had a team-high six attempts.